Faculty by Research Specialization
The Department of History at UC Santa Cruz is known for its innovative research and exemplary scholarship. Our faculty work at the cutting edge of their respective fields, covering a wide variety of geographic, temporal, and thematic fields of study. The areas of specialization listed here are by no means an exhaustive list of our scholastic interests. Rather, they highlight the diverse and often overlapping ideas and approaches we explore within our teaching and research.
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Ancient and Medieval Worlds
Nathaniel P Deutsch
- Title
- Distinguished Professor and Baumgarten Endowed Chair in Jewish Studies
- Director of the Center for Jewish Studies
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Jewish Studies and Judaism, Religion and Secularism, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, African American / Black Studies, Hebrew, Yiddish, Ethnography
- Summary of Expertise
Modern Jewish history; Hasidism; History of Religions, African American Islam; history of eugenics in the United States; Gnosticism
Charles Webster Hedrick
- Title
- Professor Emeritus
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Ancient World / Classics, Democracy, Classical Studies, Classics, History
Elaine A Sullivan
- Title
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Egyptology; Archaeology; Digital Humanities; Virtual Reality, Immersive, and Augmented Reality Environments; Ancient World / Classics; History
Borderlands and Transnationalism
Noriko Aso
- Title
- East Asian Studies Program Director
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise History, Asian Studies, Pacific Rim, Cultural Studies, Gender Studies, Visual Culture, Popular Culture, Youth Studies
- Summary of Expertise
Modern Japanese history, cultural and intellectual
David T Brundage
- Title
- Professor Emeritus
- Research Professor of History
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Immigration, Class, Colonialism, Discrimination and Inequality, History, Labor and Social Movements, US History
Shelly Chan
- Title
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise China, Globalization, World History, Cultural Studies, Asian Studies
- Summary of Expertise
Modern and contemporary China through transnational, diasporic, and oceanic approaches
Alan S Christy
- Title
- Cowell Provost
- Professor
- History Department Undergraduate Program Director
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Asian Studies, Digital Humanities
Grace Peña Delgado
- Title
- Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Border Studies, Ethnicity, Chicana/o Studies, Nationalism, Immigration, Latin American and Latino Studies, Sexuality, Asian American Pacific Islander History, Mexico
- Summary of Expertise
North American Borderlands (Canada-U.S.-Mexico)
Immigration--Mexican, Asian
Gender and Sexuality
Race and Nationalism
Chinese in Mexico
Alma R Heckman
- Title
- Neufeld-Levin Chair of Holocaust Studies
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Jewish Studies and Judaism, Middle East Studies, Mediterranean Studies
- Summary of Expertise
Modern Jewish History
Modern History of North Africa and the Middle East
Edward H Kehler
- Title
- Continuing Lecturer
- Faculty Areas of Expertise History, German Studies, Communism, European Politics, European Studies, Fascism, Film, Jewish Studies and Judaism, Nationalism, Post Communist Politics
Aims McGuinness
- Title
- College Provost, Merrill College
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise History
- Summary of Expertise
Latin America, Panamá, U.S. empire, race, labor, California Gold Rush, socialism, Cold War, transnational/global history/world history.
Gregory O′Malley
- Title
- Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Slavery, African Diaspora, Atlantic World, History, Race, African American / Black Studies, World History, Digital Humanities, US History
Bruce A Thompson
- Title
- Jewish Studies Academic Advising Coordinator
- Continuing Lecturer
- Faculty Areas of Expertise California History, Climate Change, Environmental History, European Studies, Film, History, Jewish Studies and Judaism, Religion and Secularism, War
- Summary of Expertise
European history, Jewish history and literature.
Alice Yang
- Title
- Chair and Professor, History Department
- Professor of Critical Race and Ethnic Studies
- Co-Director of the Center for the Study of Pacific War Memories
- Faculty Areas of Expertise History, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Asian American Pacific Islander History, Comparative Politics, California History, Colonialism, Feminist Studies, Gender Studies, Labor and Social Read more ...
- Summary of Expertise
Historical Memory, Asian American Pacific Islander History, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Gender, 20th Century US History, Pacific War History, Oral History, Redress, and Reparations
Read more ...
Colonialism and Empire
Noriko Aso
- Title
- East Asian Studies Program Director
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise History, Asian Studies, Pacific Rim, Cultural Studies, Gender Studies, Visual Culture, Popular Culture, Youth Studies
- Summary of Expertise
Modern Japanese history, cultural and intellectual
Benjamin P Breen
- Title
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Science Studies, Colonialism, Digital Humanities, Drug Policy, World History
- Summary of Expertise
I'm an associate professor of history at UCSC interested in the history of science, medicine, empire, and the long-term impacts of technological change. My most recent book, Tripping on Read more ...
David T Brundage
- Title
- Professor Emeritus
- Research Professor of History
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Immigration, Class, Colonialism, Discrimination and Inequality, History, Labor and Social Movements, US History
Shelly Chan
- Title
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise China, Globalization, World History, Cultural Studies, Asian Studies
- Summary of Expertise
Modern and contemporary China through transnational, diasporic, and oceanic approaches
Alan S Christy
- Title
- Cowell Provost
- Professor
- History Department Undergraduate Program Director
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Asian Studies, Digital Humanities
Muriam H Davis
- Title
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise North Africa, Middle East Studies, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Capitalism, European Studies
Jennifer L Derr
- Title
- Associate Professor; Founding Director, Center for the Middle East and North Africa at UC Santa Cruz
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Disease and Immunity, Science Studies, Environmental Studies, Biomedical Sciences, Capitalism, Colonialism, History, Water
Maria Elena Diaz
- Title
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Colonialism, Slavery, African Diaspora, Atlantic World, Latin American and Latino Studies, History, Race, Law and Policy, Personal and Social Identities, Spanish
- Summary of Expertise
Colonial Latin America and Caribbean history
Kathleen C Gutierrez
- Title
- Assistant Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise The Philippines, Southeast Asian Studies, History of Science, Colonialism, Science Studies, Community-based Research
- Summary of Expertise
Philippine history, science and technology studies, Southeast Asian studies, history of plant sciences, agrarian migration
Alma R Heckman
- Title
- Neufeld-Levin Chair of Holocaust Studies
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Jewish Studies and Judaism, Middle East Studies, Mediterranean Studies
- Summary of Expertise
Modern Jewish History
Modern History of North Africa and the Middle East
Edward H Kehler
- Title
- Continuing Lecturer
- Faculty Areas of Expertise History, German Studies, Communism, European Politics, European Studies, Fascism, Film, Jewish Studies and Judaism, Nationalism, Post Communist Politics
Amy Joy Lonetree
- Title
- Professor
- Summary of Expertise
Indigenous History, Museum Studies, Commemoration and Public Memory, Native American Cultural Production, Public History, and Ho-Chunk Tribal History
Marc Anthony Matera
- Title
- Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise History, European Studies, Africa and African Studies, African Diaspora, Colonialism, Critical Theory, Cultural Studies, Feminist Studies, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Urban studies
Aims McGuinness
- Title
- College Provost, Merrill College
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise History
- Summary of Expertise
Latin America, Panamá, U.S. empire, race, labor, California Gold Rush, socialism, Cold War, transnational/global history/world history.
Matt O′Hara
- Title
- Provost, Stevenson College
- Professor
Gregory O′Malley
- Title
- Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Slavery, African Diaspora, Atlantic World, History, Race, African American / Black Studies, World History, Digital Humanities, US History
Eric C Porter
- Title
- Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise African American / Black Studies, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Jazz, American Studies, California History, Improvisation, Urban studies, Cultural Studies
Juned Noor M Shaikh
- Title
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise India and Indian Studies, Marxism, World History, Colonialism, Labor and Social Movements, Urban studies
- Summary of Expertise
Modern South Asia, Urban, Labor, Caste, Dalit Studies, Marxism, and Intellectual History.
Marilyn J Westerkamp
- Title
- Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Colonialism, Gender Studies, Religion and Secularism, Cultural Studies, Feminist Studies, Women's Studies
Alice Yang
- Title
- Chair and Professor, History Department
- Professor of Critical Race and Ethnic Studies
- Co-Director of the Center for the Study of Pacific War Memories
- Faculty Areas of Expertise History, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Asian American Pacific Islander History, Comparative Politics, California History, Colonialism, Feminist Studies, Gender Studies, Labor and Social Read more ...
- Summary of Expertise
Historical Memory, Asian American Pacific Islander History, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Gender, 20th Century US History, Pacific War History, Oral History, Redress, and Reparations
Read more ...
Critical Race and Indigeneity
Muriam H Davis
- Title
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise North Africa, Middle East Studies, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Capitalism, European Studies
Grace Peña Delgado
- Title
- Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Border Studies, Ethnicity, Chicana/o Studies, Nationalism, Immigration, Latin American and Latino Studies, Sexuality, Asian American Pacific Islander History, Mexico
- Summary of Expertise
North American Borderlands (Canada-U.S.-Mexico)
Immigration--Mexican, Asian
Gender and Sexuality
Race and Nationalism
Chinese in Mexico
Nathaniel P Deutsch
- Title
- Distinguished Professor and Baumgarten Endowed Chair in Jewish Studies
- Director of the Center for Jewish Studies
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Jewish Studies and Judaism, Religion and Secularism, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, African American / Black Studies, Hebrew, Yiddish, Ethnography
- Summary of Expertise
Modern Jewish history; Hasidism; History of Religions, African American Islam; history of eugenics in the United States; Gnosticism
Maria Elena Diaz
- Title
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Colonialism, Slavery, African Diaspora, Atlantic World, Latin American and Latino Studies, History, Race, Law and Policy, Personal and Social Identities, Spanish
- Summary of Expertise
Colonial Latin America and Caribbean history
Alma R Heckman
- Title
- Neufeld-Levin Chair of Holocaust Studies
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Jewish Studies and Judaism, Middle East Studies, Mediterranean Studies
- Summary of Expertise
Modern Jewish History
Modern History of North Africa and the Middle East
Catherine A Jones
- Title
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise History, Civil War, Gender Studies, Race, Youth Studies
- Summary of Expertise
Slavery and Emancipation
Civil War Era
History of Children and Childhood
American South
Amy Joy Lonetree
- Title
- Professor
- Summary of Expertise
Indigenous History, Museum Studies, Commemoration and Public Memory, Native American Cultural Production, Public History, and Ho-Chunk Tribal History
Marc Anthony Matera
- Title
- Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise History, European Studies, Africa and African Studies, African Diaspora, Colonialism, Critical Theory, Cultural Studies, Feminist Studies, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Urban studies
Aims McGuinness
- Title
- College Provost, Merrill College
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise History
- Summary of Expertise
Latin America, Panamá, U.S. empire, race, labor, California Gold Rush, socialism, Cold War, transnational/global history/world history.
Gregory O′Malley
- Title
- Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Slavery, African Diaspora, Atlantic World, History, Race, African American / Black Studies, World History, Digital Humanities, US History
Eric C Porter
- Title
- Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise African American / Black Studies, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Jazz, American Studies, California History, Improvisation, Urban studies, Cultural Studies
Alice Yang
- Title
- Chair and Professor, History Department
- Professor of Critical Race and Ethnic Studies
- Co-Director of the Center for the Study of Pacific War Memories
- Faculty Areas of Expertise History, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Asian American Pacific Islander History, Comparative Politics, California History, Colonialism, Feminist Studies, Gender Studies, Labor and Social Read more ...
- Summary of Expertise
Historical Memory, Asian American Pacific Islander History, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Gender, 20th Century US History, Pacific War History, Oral History, Redress, and Reparations
Read more ...
Early Modern World
Benjamin P Breen
- Title
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Science Studies, Colonialism, Digital Humanities, Drug Policy, World History
- Summary of Expertise
I'm an associate professor of history at UCSC interested in the history of science, medicine, empire, and the long-term impacts of technological change. My most recent book, Tripping on Read more ...
Alan S Christy
- Title
- Cowell Provost
- Professor
- History Department Undergraduate Program Director
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Asian Studies, Digital Humanities
Nathaniel P Deutsch
- Title
- Distinguished Professor and Baumgarten Endowed Chair in Jewish Studies
- Director of the Center for Jewish Studies
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Jewish Studies and Judaism, Religion and Secularism, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, African American / Black Studies, Hebrew, Yiddish, Ethnography
- Summary of Expertise
Modern Jewish history; Hasidism; History of Religions, African American Islam; history of eugenics in the United States; Gnosticism
Minghui Hu
- Title
- Associate Professor
Edward H Kehler
- Title
- Continuing Lecturer
- Faculty Areas of Expertise History, German Studies, Communism, European Politics, European Studies, Fascism, Film, Jewish Studies and Judaism, Nationalism, Post Communist Politics
Matt O′Hara
- Title
- Provost, Stevenson College
- Professor
Gregory O′Malley
- Title
- Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Slavery, African Diaspora, Atlantic World, History, Race, African American / Black Studies, World History, Digital Humanities, US History
Marilyn J Westerkamp
- Title
- Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Colonialism, Gender Studies, Religion and Secularism, Cultural Studies, Feminist Studies, Women's Studies
Gender and Sexuality
Noriko Aso
- Title
- East Asian Studies Program Director
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise History, Asian Studies, Pacific Rim, Cultural Studies, Gender Studies, Visual Culture, Popular Culture, Youth Studies
- Summary of Expertise
Modern Japanese history, cultural and intellectual
Shelly Chan
- Title
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise China, Globalization, World History, Cultural Studies, Asian Studies
- Summary of Expertise
Modern and contemporary China through transnational, diasporic, and oceanic approaches
Grace Peña Delgado
- Title
- Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Border Studies, Ethnicity, Chicana/o Studies, Nationalism, Immigration, Latin American and Latino Studies, Sexuality, Asian American Pacific Islander History, Mexico
- Summary of Expertise
North American Borderlands (Canada-U.S.-Mexico)
Immigration--Mexican, Asian
Gender and Sexuality
Race and Nationalism
Chinese in Mexico
Catherine A Jones
- Title
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise History, Civil War, Gender Studies, Race, Youth Studies
- Summary of Expertise
Slavery and Emancipation
Civil War Era
History of Children and Childhood
American South
Marc Anthony Matera
- Title
- Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise History, European Studies, Africa and African Studies, African Diaspora, Colonialism, Critical Theory, Cultural Studies, Feminist Studies, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Urban studies
Marilyn J Westerkamp
- Title
- Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Colonialism, Gender Studies, Religion and Secularism, Cultural Studies, Feminist Studies, Women's Studies
Alice Yang
- Title
- Chair and Professor, History Department
- Professor of Critical Race and Ethnic Studies
- Co-Director of the Center for the Study of Pacific War Memories
- Faculty Areas of Expertise History, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Asian American Pacific Islander History, Comparative Politics, California History, Colonialism, Feminist Studies, Gender Studies, Labor and Social Read more ...
- Summary of Expertise
Historical Memory, Asian American Pacific Islander History, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Gender, 20th Century US History, Pacific War History, Oral History, Redress, and Reparations
Read more ...
Labor and Social Movements
David T Brundage
- Title
- Professor Emeritus
- Research Professor of History
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Immigration, Class, Colonialism, Discrimination and Inequality, History, Labor and Social Movements, US History
Shelly Chan
- Title
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise China, Globalization, World History, Cultural Studies, Asian Studies
- Summary of Expertise
Modern and contemporary China through transnational, diasporic, and oceanic approaches
Alma R Heckman
- Title
- Neufeld-Levin Chair of Holocaust Studies
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Jewish Studies and Judaism, Middle East Studies, Mediterranean Studies
- Summary of Expertise
Modern Jewish History
Modern History of North Africa and the Middle East
Marc Anthony Matera
- Title
- Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise History, European Studies, Africa and African Studies, African Diaspora, Colonialism, Critical Theory, Cultural Studies, Feminist Studies, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Urban studies
Aims McGuinness
- Title
- College Provost, Merrill College
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise History
- Summary of Expertise
Latin America, Panamá, U.S. empire, race, labor, California Gold Rush, socialism, Cold War, transnational/global history/world history.
Eric C Porter
- Title
- Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise African American / Black Studies, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Jazz, American Studies, California History, Improvisation, Urban studies, Cultural Studies
Juned Noor M Shaikh
- Title
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise India and Indian Studies, Marxism, World History, Colonialism, Labor and Social Movements, Urban studies
- Summary of Expertise
Modern South Asia, Urban, Labor, Caste, Dalit Studies, Marxism, and Intellectual History.
Alice Yang
- Title
- Chair and Professor, History Department
- Professor of Critical Race and Ethnic Studies
- Co-Director of the Center for the Study of Pacific War Memories
- Faculty Areas of Expertise History, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Asian American Pacific Islander History, Comparative Politics, California History, Colonialism, Feminist Studies, Gender Studies, Labor and Social Read more ...
- Summary of Expertise
Historical Memory, Asian American Pacific Islander History, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Gender, 20th Century US History, Pacific War History, Oral History, Redress, and Reparations
Read more ...
Religion and Secularism
Nathaniel P Deutsch
- Title
- Distinguished Professor and Baumgarten Endowed Chair in Jewish Studies
- Director of the Center for Jewish Studies
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Jewish Studies and Judaism, Religion and Secularism, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, African American / Black Studies, Hebrew, Yiddish, Ethnography
- Summary of Expertise
Modern Jewish history; Hasidism; History of Religions, African American Islam; history of eugenics in the United States; Gnosticism
Alma R Heckman
- Title
- Neufeld-Levin Chair of Holocaust Studies
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Jewish Studies and Judaism, Middle East Studies, Mediterranean Studies
- Summary of Expertise
Modern Jewish History
Modern History of North Africa and the Middle East
Matt O′Hara
- Title
- Provost, Stevenson College
- Professor
Bruce A Thompson
- Title
- Jewish Studies Academic Advising Coordinator
- Continuing Lecturer
- Faculty Areas of Expertise California History, Climate Change, Environmental History, European Studies, Film, History, Jewish Studies and Judaism, Religion and Secularism, War
- Summary of Expertise
European history, Jewish history and literature.
Marilyn J Westerkamp
- Title
- Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Colonialism, Gender Studies, Religion and Secularism, Cultural Studies, Feminist Studies, Women's Studies
Science, Technology, and Environment
Benjamin P Breen
- Title
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Science Studies, Colonialism, Digital Humanities, Drug Policy, World History
- Summary of Expertise
I'm an associate professor of history at UCSC interested in the history of science, medicine, empire, and the long-term impacts of technological change. My most recent book, Tripping on Read more ...
Muriam H Davis
- Title
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise North Africa, Middle East Studies, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Capitalism, European Studies
Jennifer L Derr
- Title
- Associate Professor; Founding Director, Center for the Middle East and North Africa at UC Santa Cruz
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Disease and Immunity, Science Studies, Environmental Studies, Biomedical Sciences, Capitalism, Colonialism, History, Water
Kathleen C Gutierrez
- Title
- Assistant Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise The Philippines, Southeast Asian Studies, History of Science, Colonialism, Science Studies, Community-based Research
- Summary of Expertise
Philippine history, science and technology studies, Southeast Asian studies, history of plant sciences, agrarian migration
Minghui Hu
- Title
- Associate Professor
Bruce A Thompson
- Title
- Jewish Studies Academic Advising Coordinator
- Continuing Lecturer
- Faculty Areas of Expertise California History, Climate Change, Environmental History, European Studies, Film, History, Jewish Studies and Judaism, Religion and Secularism, War
- Summary of Expertise
European history, Jewish history and literature.